An artist of Kumartuli gives the final touch to an idol ahead of the Durga Pooja festival, in Kolkata. File
| Photo Credit: ANI

Amid ongoing protests in Kolkata in demand of justice for the doctor who was raped and killed at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH), idol sculptors in Kumartuli incur losses in domestic orders while their export orders remain unaffected.

“The horrific incident that took place at RGKMCH has had some impact on our local orders. But it did not affect the orders for Durga idols that were placed by foreign Puja organisers,” noted Babu Paul, secretary of the Kumartuli Mritshilpo Sanskritik Samiti. 

As reported earlier by The Hindu, Kumartuli’s artisans witnessed a drop in orders for Durga idols this year, in light of the ongoing agitation in the city and with many Durga Puja organisers rejecting the Trinamool government’s honorarium in protest.

However, Mr. Babu Paul explained that orders for Durga idols are placed by foreign clients almost six months before Durga Puja, by February and March, and are delivered two months prior to the beginning of festivities.

“As such, most of our export orders were already packed and shipped before the incident even took place, or at least before the protests started taking place on the scale that we see now,” Mr. Babu Paul told The Hindu.

In fact, according to him, Kumartuli saw a slight hike in export orders this year, with over 5,000 Durga idols being shipped by artisans of this famed sculptor community. “With traditional and fibreglass Durga idols combined, we witnessed a hike of atleast 100 orders in total compared to last year,” Mr. Babu Paul said.

Similar sentiments were echoed by third-generation idol sculptor Bankim Paul, who boasts of at over a dozen orders every year from countries like Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and others. 

“We receive most of our orders around Saraswati Puja, which is celebrated in West Bengal during the beginning of the year. So the Durga Puja spirit is alive and thriving among non-resident Indians (NRIs) like every year, even though they are all very saddened by what happened at the R.G. Kar Hospital,” he said. 

He added that even though the Durga Puja organisers abroad are carrying on with festivities as usual, they urged the idol sculptors in Kolkata to take part in ongoing protests, and even organise a protest rally of their own.

“Some of my clients told me that the world has its eyes on Kumartuli’s sculptor community, especially in the months preceding Durga Puja. So they felt it is important for us to take to the streets in protest, given the heinousness of the crime,” Mr. Bankim said.

Notably, on September 8, Kumartuli’s artisans took out their own protest rally from Kumartuli Art Gallery to Shyambazar. “We had a slogan of our own — Kumartuli dicche daak, amar Durga bichaar paak (Kumartuli is calling out so our Durga gets justice),” Mr. Bankim Paul said.

He recalled thousands of people from different walks of life joining the rally conducted by Kumartuli’s artisans.